Saturday, October 18, 2025

Life After Dixie Fire: Revisiting Devil's Kitchen in Lassen Volcanic National Park

Devil's Kitchen
 
 
Date: July 17 (and July 19), 2025
Place: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Mineral, California
Coordinates: 40.443160, -121.397300
Length: 5.4 miles
Level: mildly moderate


Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the places I visit an an annual basis. Most often I go there in mid-July for a camping trip with my family hiking group. Whenever possible, I try to make it up there a day ahead to see that everything is where I left it on the previous year. 
When I returned to Lassen Park last July I had planned to take the group to Devil's Kitchen, a trail I have hiked numerous times, but not since the Dixie Fire of 2021 which devastated a huge area in that part of California, including a much of the forest within the park's boundaries. I knew that the Warner Valley had sustained much damage and I wanted to see if now, four years after the fire, the trail was good to hike. 
I arrived in the area just before sunset and found myself a campsite in a campground located about 20 minutes drive from the Warner Valley part of Lassen Park, where the trailhead to Devil's Kitchen was. Already on my drive in I could see the sad view of the huge area of dead, burnt trees. My campsite was right at the edge of the fire. Other campgrounds in the area were closed to the public still because of the fire damage.   
My hike as captured by my GPS

In the morning, when I arrived at the Devil's Kitchen Trailhead I saw that the forest there was pretty much all burnt. There were a few survivor trees though. A sign at the trailhead informed me (and anyone else who happened to be there) that the bridge at Devil's Kitchen was destroyed by the fire, but that one can get across by walking on a sturdy log. Now I knew for sure that I'd have to hike all the way in. After all, I couldn't take a group there without making sure that they could cross on a sturdy log, right? 
California Dwarf Sunflower, Helianthella californica

I passed quickly through the stand of burned trees to the first meadow, through which the trail stretched on a boardwalk. Most of the trees were dead but there were some survivors too. The meadow itself was as green and lush as I remembered. Four years was enough for the bushes and annuals to bounce back fully. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

The wildflowers scene also was as rich and beautiful as I remembered. There were plenty of wildflowers all around and I slowed down my hike to enjoy the colorful display. 
Woodbeauty, Drymocallis lactea

The trail was very muddy and even flooded in places. I don't remember it being so muddy on my previous visits. I wondered if this is because the winter was particularly wet there, driving the springs later in the season, or maybe there were less trees now to drink all the excess water. I do know it was difficult to walk at times with all that mud. A robin I met on the trail had a different point of view - he was pulling large worms out of the mud and enjoying  himself a feast. 
American Robin

I loved seeing the tall cornlilies in full bloom. Cornilies are of my favorite mountain meadow plants - I love seeing their foliage even when they aren't in bloom. 
California Cornlily, Veratrum californicum

The Hot Springs Creek, which comes down from Devil's Kitchen and is fed by other tributaries, was flowing high and strong. Last winter has been good here. 
Hot Springs Creek

The trail crosses Hot Springs Creek on a large foot bridge, which thankfully was not damaged by the fire. At the base of the bridge near the water towered a gorgeous, tall leopard lily plant in full bloom. 
Leopard Lily, Lilium pardalinum

Across the bridge the trail rose along a meadowy slope which too was dotted with many colorful wildflowers. Many little brooks came down the slope and across the trail and I had to walk creatively to avoid sinking or slipping in the muddy places. 

The mud wasn't the only reason that I slowed down - I also paused by the wildflowers that bloomed along the trail. 
West Coast Canada Goldenrod, Solidago elongata

The mud slowed my progress, but so did the wildflowers. Water-loving plants bloomed in high numbers near the flooded parts of the trail. 
Seep Monkeyflower, Erythranthe gutatta

There were a few other hikers on the trail. The trail to Bumpass Hell, the main geothermal attraction in Lassen Volcanic National Park, was closed still because of snow and ice and the park personnel were directing visitors to Devil's Kitchen to see the geothermal wonders. The others too were struggling with the slippery mud, and not every hiker had suitable shoes. 
Springbank Clover, Trifolium wormskioldii

Looking for ways to bypass the muddy places, hikers cut bypasses through the vegetation, leaving scars in the green meadow. Wherever the rut was already fully established as an alternative pass I have used it too - I didn't want to risk slipping and falling. 
White Brodiaea, Triteleia hyacinthina

I reached a small brook that run through a pipe under the trail and continued downhill towards Drakesbad Resort. I was already familiar with this little brook and with pleasure I invited other hikers to stick their fingers in the water, enjoying their surprised reaction. The brook run hot water. Not too hot as to cause a birn, but certainly hot enough to elicit a quick reaction of pulling the finger out quickly. 

Drakesbad is a privet resort that uses the brook's hot water for the spa they run. I have never been a guest at Drakesbad Resort but I heard a lot of good things about it. The resort was damaged in the Dixie Fire and from my view point on the trail I could see the brand new structures that were being build and the large bulldozer that moved on the resort's grounds. The forest all around the resort was burnt, save for a thin ring if trees around the meadow in front of the resort. 
Drakesbad

The muddy water attracted numerous insects, including the delicate and beautiful damselflies. Most of them were flying around but a few perched just long enough for me to take a photo. 
California Dancer

Past the meadow the trail went a bit higher along the hillside, and for some distance it was dry. It was a bit of trail that went through a forest stand but nearly all the trees were burnt. I was sad seeing this, especially since my last memory of this place was of thick, healthy conifer trees that cast a deep cooling shade. 

The dead, burnt tree remains didn't cast much shade at all. I was glad that the day wasn't too hot. The herbaceous plants were grateful for the abundant sunshine though - the wonderful bloom dosplay continued on along that part of the trail too. 
Peregrine Thistle, Cirsium cymosum

The clamp of bleeding heart plants i remembered from my previous hikes of this trail. They were right there, in the same spot, blooming as prettily as before. 
Pacific Bleeding Heart, Dicentra formosa

Where there are wildflowers, one might expect to see butterflies as well. Indeed, there were many butterflies around. 
July 19, Great Basin Fritillary butterfly

I reached the second bridge that crossed the Hot Springs Creek and which, thankfully, was undamaged. The trees and bushes right next to the creek in that spot were unharmed by the fire as well. 

On the other side of the bridge was a split in the trail. The right branch led back towards Drakesbad. On this visit, that trail was blocked by a sign stating that this was now a restoration area. Either way I was taking the left arm, going to Devil's Kitchen geothermal area. 

There were more wildflowers blooming along that part of the trail as well. I recognized the Sierra penstemon from my numerous hikes in the mountains and I was happy to see it blooming here. 
Sierra Penstemon, Penstemon heterodoxus

There were also the tiny primrose monkeyflowers which make low, starlike mats that cover moist soils in the mountain areas. The last time I've seen these was on my backpacking trip to the John Muir Wilderness and Kings Canyon National Park a month beforehand. 
Primrose Monkeyflower, Erythranthe primuloides

Some plants are like landmarks for me on trails that I keep returning too. Along the Devil's Kitchen Trail one such plant landmark was a beautiful ring of cornlilies that I was happy to see each time I hiked this trail. Now, five years since my last hike there, I was dismayed to see that my favorite cornlily clamp was shriveled, looking dead. I don't know if it was because of the fire or that its life simply run its course. 

I consoled myself with more wildflowers and more butterflies that I was seeing along the trail, healthy-looking cornlilies included.
Field Crescent butterfly

Many of the wildflowers were forming large patches of color. The bright yellow color dominated the bloom scene. 
Bigelow's Sneezeweed, Helenium bigelovii

Even among the individual plants that didn't form mats he yellow color dominated. Many of the wildflowers belonged to the aster family. 
Pale Agoseris, Agoseris glauca

The trail crossed another small brook, one that run cold, refreshing water. On the other side of the brook was a large open meadow covered with grasses that were already on their drying phase. A movement through the grass caught my attention - it was a racer snake. I was quick to lift my camera but the snake was quicker. All I have is a memory of the quick animal slithering into the grass and disappearing form view. 

A short boardwalk traverses part of the meadow. I was dry underneath it but I remember previous hikes there when there was a lot of mud below that boardwalk. What I didn't remember was the large patch of white angelica flowers near the trail. I assumed they were there before, and only now I was acknowledging their presence. 

I was hoping to see birds too on my hikes. I wanted something to share with Pappa Quail when I returned home. At the edge of the meadow, just before I was about to enter the burnt forest again, a saw a small bird on a rock. 
Pine Siskin

The trail ascended from the meadow into the forest, which was completely burnt. This part of the forest is the only place in Lassen Volcanic NP where I was seeing bears fairly consistently. I kept on the lookout but no bears were to be seen. Green pine cones make a big part of bear diet and I thought that now that the trees were dead, the bears must be foraging somewhere else. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

I was moving quicker now, not stopping as frequently as before. For one, there were fewer wildflowers blooming along this part of the trail. There were some though, near dry or somewhat moist still forest creek beds.
Streambank Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Hosackia oblongifolia

Although the wildflowers weren't as numerous as in the meadows and near the creek, there were still many more of them than used to be when the forest trees were alive and keeping the sunlight from reaching the ground. 
Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

I crossed a creek that was already dry but the soil of the creek bed was moist still. All along the creek and for a good wide belt flanking it was lush greenery with wildflowers. 
Western Morning Glory, Calystegia occidentalis

Needless to say I've stayed for a while in that spot, admiring the wildflowers and trying to capture the butterflies that flew between them. 
Western Mountain Aster, Symphyotrichum spathulatum

Eventually I did manage to capture the photo of one of these hyperactive pretty insects. Patience pays out.
Clodius parnassian butterfly

The trail was going uphill at a mild slope. The area between the burnt trees here was covered with a carpet of ceanothus bushes, also known as buckthorn. This trail was wide enough and the ceanothus bushes low enough so I got by unscratched. On another hike just a few days later I got quite a few scratches from hiking the even narrower trail to the Terminal Geyser. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

Another little bird waited for me, standing on a thin, burnt remnant of a little tree. It looked to me like a sparrow, but not one of the species I could recognize on sight. At home it was identified for me as a Lincoln's sparrow. 
Lincoln's Sparrow

The last bit of trail before reaching Devil's Kitchen is a bit steeper. It also crosses another creek and that one was flowing still. The green belt flanking that creek was much bigger than the one I saw earlier. The wildflowers too were much taller. 
Oregon Checker-Mallow, Sidalcea oregana

The bushes, many of them ferns, were quite tall as well. They reached my knees, thighs, and in places, also my shoulders. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

There was a movement between the bushes off the trail. A deer was there and she looked at me curiously. 
Black-tailed Deer

I reached the crest of the trail. Before the Dixie Fire there used to be a bar to tie horses to there, and a few large fallen logs on which people could sit, and the trees were large and shading. It was the perfect place to catch the breath and cool off a bit before descending into the heat of the geothermal furnace, especially in the heat of the summer. Now that place was all burnt and there was nowhere comfortable to sit down. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

I continued right away over the crest and down to Devil's Kitchen. Below me run Hot Springs Creek which, upstream of Devil's Kitchen wasn't hot at all. 
Hot Springs Creek

On my way down I noticed a single onion plant. At a close look I saw that the onion was already past blooming - what i was seeing was the dry petals that maintained their shape. 
Dusky Onion, Allium campanulatum

Remaining half-way downhill I observed Hot Springs Creek downstream of Devil's Kitchen. While I couldn't tell the temperature of the creek's water, I could certainly see the fumarole that was steaming next to it. The area near the fumarole was nearly empty of plants. The soil was very colorful- most of it because of different mineral deposits. 

I took and enlarged image of the fumarole. Next to the steaming hole was a bright yellow deposit of sulfur. I didn't need to inhale deeply - the sulfuric smell was strong in the Devil's Kitchen's air. 
Fumarole

I made my way all the way down to the creek. The old bridge that traversed the creek was indeed gone. Instead - a sturdy, flattened-top log spanned the water. My photo of the crossing place didn't come out well so I am using here a photo from my hike there with the group, two days later. None of us had any problems crossing the creek on that log. 
July 19, Hot Springs Creek crossing 

At the base of the bridge, little white flowers bloomed in the water. The vegetative, green part of the plant was submerged but the flowers raised their beautiful heads out of the water, ready for the pollinators to come and do their job. 
Common Water-Crowfoot, Ranunculus aquatilis

From the bridge I had a really nice view of the creek and the adjacent steaming fumarole. The steam rose to a height of about 3-4 meters, then thinned into the air and disappeared fro view. 
Hot Springs Creek

Past the log bridge the trail forms a small loop that goes near the main geothermal features of the Devil's Kitchen. I walked it slowly, enjoying the sights of the colorful earth, the sounds of the bubbling water below the soil's crust, the sulfuric aroma of the air venting out of these holes, and of course, the extra heat that wrapped around me, the moisture of the steam mixing with my own sweat. The only sense of mine that remained non-stimulated there was my sense of taste. 

I noticed a lizard on a white rock near the trail. The lizard was far enough from the hot springs, resting on safe ground. The entire area however, is not safe, and there are signs all along the trail warning hikers that the soil crust is thin and to not wander off the stable trail. I always wondered how the local animals know where it is safe for them to be. I suppose not all of them know - less than a month before an unfortunate bison fell into a hot spring in Yellowstone and died a horrible death.
Common Sagebrush lizard

I arrived at the view point of the main cluster of hot springs in Devils Kitchen. Steam was rising from the entire basin. Little rivulets flowed down the mild slope directly into Hot Springs Creek below. 
Devil's Kitchen

My photos really don't do justice to the palette of colors that I saw there. While most of the colors came from mineral deposits, some were certainly attributed to thermophilic bacteria. 
Devil's Kitchen

One of those hot springs was particularly active, bubbling ferociously with gray, silt-mixed boiling water. It did sound like an vigorously cooking soup but it didn't smell too appealing. 

I followed the trail to another fumarole that steamed out of a red mound of soil. I suppose not only steam came out of that hole in the ground because below the fumarole was a small pool that collected its hot water.

I continued up to the next cluster of fumaroles, sweating in the heat of the steam that blew at me from the pit of the earth. I could hear the low rumble of the bubbling hot water below me. 

A small rivulet of pasty white water that looked like wall paint flowed downhill from the higher fumaroles. Flanking the flow were green and yellow stains that were of biological nature. 

Slowly and carefully I descended down the trail to complete the Devil's Kitchen loop. I was happy to confirm that there would be no issue with taking my family hiking group on this trail in two days. Now it was time to go back and meet them at the north end of the park. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

On my way back down the Devil's Kitchen Trail I had the chance to take photos of wildflowers that I either missed on the way in, or that I simply thought were deserving another shot.
Lettuce Wirelettuce, Stephanomeria lactucina

One of these plants was the buckthorn that matted much of the burnt forest floor. Most of these bushes were not blooming at all, but I did find a cluster of flowers which I happily focused my camera on. 
Mountain Whitethorn, Ceanothus cordulatus

Another wildflower, which is so common that I barely notice anymore, was the common yarrow. They were blooming so beautifully that I couldn't resist stopping for them on my return. 
Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

A third species of monkeyflower that I encountered on my way back also got my attention. Monkeyflower species are sometimes hard for me to tell from one another. 
Musk Monkeyflower, Erythranthe moschata

Most of my way back however, I walked without stopping. I wanted to have some time for lunch before my drive to and through the park. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail

Where I did stop, it was because I heard the knocking sounds of a woodpecker. It didn't take me long to spot the industrious bird. 
Hairy Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are quite common in the area of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and there are a number of woodpecker species there, too. Near where I had seen the hairy woodpecker on my solo hike I had spotted a pair of black-backed woodpeckers a couple of days later when I was there with my family hiking group. 
July 19, Black-backed Woodpeckers

At the edge of the forest I had to slow down again - there was a muddy area right on the slope descending into the large meadow. Below the slope was a small mat of pussypaws flowers in bloom. These are common plants in the dryer area of the mountains, and I love seeing them on my hikes. 
One-seeded Pussypaws, Calyptridium monospermum

I paced quickly across the large meadow, telling myself that I won't be stopping for the patch of angelica flowers.
Devil's Kitchen Trail

Well, I did stop for these flowers. Turns out that they were indeed of the angelica family but these were called yampa. Not that I could tell the difference. 
Gaiedner's Yampa, perideridia gairdneri

Where the soil of the meadow was exposed I saw more wildflowers, such as the beautiful, yellow-flowered cinquefoil. 
Cinquefoil, Potentilla sp. 

I stopped at the cool water creek at the edge of the large meadow and dunked my hat in the water to cool my head a bit. Past the creek I was once again on the boardwalk, between tall bushes and other plants. 
Devil's Kitchen Trail
 
One of the tall, unique wildflowers that was blooming there was the ranger buttons - a true species of the angelica genus. 
Ranger Buttons, Angelica capitellata

Clouds of butterflies hovered over the wildflowers. I followed a blue butterfly that seemed a little more focused on feeding than the others. 
Greenish Blue butterfly

Below the boardwalk where I could see the water I noticed that some of it was covered with duckweed. Duckweed is a real, flowering plant and not an alga. 
Common Duckweed, Lemna minor

I crossed the middle bridge that spanned Hot Springs Creek and entered once again the burnt stand of trees on the slope of the hill. A dark-eyed junco hopped on a large fallen log near the trail and to my surprise, waited there until I took the photo before flying away. 
Dark-eyed Junco

I moved swiftly along the trail, managing the muddy areas as fast as I could. The robin that I saw there earlier was no longer there, and the worms were worming about with no fear of becoming lunch. 
Earth Worm

On the last bit of trail I finally took a moment to photograph the naked buckwheat that bloomed there in high numbers. 
Naked Buckwheat, Eriogonum nudum

Hot Springs Creek continued flowing below be, downhill and out of the park, where eventually it will tribute its water to Mill Creek. 
Hot Springs Creek

Two days later I returned to Devil's Kitchen with my family hiking group. We had a lovely hike there and at the end we spent some time eating a late lunch. There at the parking area waited for us two woodpeckers: a red-breasted sapsucker and a white-headed woodpecker. 
July 19, Red-breasted Sapsucker

Those lovely birds were a very nice treat at the end of a very nice hike to a very unique place. I have no doubt that I would visit Devil's Kitchen again, and I hope that the beautiful forest there will recover in my lifetime.
July 19, White-headed Woodpecker


 

 
 
 
 
 

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